Shredex

Isn't it a little dangerous to be flying with sewing needles?

Someone described the Colugo is like the Apache and the V4 had a baby and the Colugo was born. Said it glides like the apache, but turns like the V4. This is second hand info, though.

I wear polarized sunglasses on every jump. Never had a problem with reading my Viso II. Always nice to have a mechanical backup as a student, though :] VisoII with wristband is also great for under canopy. I don't have to turn my wrist to see my altitude. It's right there facing me. Then again, unnecessary with an Optima.

Give them a call. They might have a shop at the DZ with some in stock. Not all DZ's put their gear stores on their websites. Just have to go there or call them up.

If you have the money to drop: Viso II on the wrist: http://www.l-and-b.dk/products/visual/viso_ii Optima II in the dome: http://www.l-and-b.dk/products/audible/optima_ii You will likely end up with the Viso and Optima down the road anyways. If you can't afford it, then go for cheap used analog for less then $100. They are all pretty awful. lol Love watching people smack their analogs in the plane because the indicator is stuck lol Also, learn to use your eyes.

Cookie G2, or G3. http://www.flycookie.com/shop/helmets/94/index.htm

Wind Tunnel ;p

As for suits on the market: Jedei is actually a slimmed/smaller version of the Apache that was built for speed/races. The Squirrel Colugo is larger then the Apache, and the Squirrel Aura is even larger then the Colugo ;p Have yet to see the PF Viper in person, so can't compare sizes there but it looks like it might be the current biggest on the market today

a skin tight slippery suit should allow you to go faster then you do naked.

A standard, you might say, jump number would be 80 freefall skydives. More relaxed DZs will allow it at 50 jumps. The big problem is landing off...People track away from the DZ and don't make it back. Just know how to fly a proper pattern and not run into people and you'll be fine. Also, Tube 3 is more of a head-low fast flying suit. So make sure you are comfortable tracking at steeper angles.

There website does include up-to-date lead times. Not when productions starts but when your suit should be done. "Currently a high volume of orders has pushed back lead times to 14-16 weeks for the Trackingsuit, Prodigy2, Shadow, Phantom2, Ghost3 and Venom. V5 and Viper lead times are currently at 18-20 weeks As we work through the large volume of orders, lead times are expected to come down in the coming months."

Yup. We had Scotty lay his Colugo over his Apache XRW? suit in for a size comparison. Very similiar in size. Colugo beat it by having the grips point out to the side more which actually makes it much easier to hold then the TS version which points straight back. Some other minor stuff like how the tail inflated about 5 inches thicker I had my arm inside the sleeves of both suits on the ground for test inflation, and the difference was that it felt like I was having my blood pressure checked on the Colugo vs the XRW lol From what I've heard about the mach1 while in an actual discussion about the Colugo, is that the Colugo is much easier to fly then the mach. This is second hand info though.

You can't really compare those two suits because the SM1 is an old design that doesn't have nearly the same amount of surface area. The closest thing you can compare it to is the Apache or the Viper.

A few guys I know jump with those toe-shoes. Might want to look into them. They say they are really comfortable...I just wouldn't like them because I like proper protection lol

http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/square-one-gopro-top-mount

Another thing to think about is how much are you willing to spend? A lot of suits are great. The Tonysuit Space Suit is a very popular suit in the tunnel and is great to Freefly with as well as to learn in. http://www.tonysuits.com/jumpsuits/spacesuit.php4 Very durable and lasts a really long time. Cost is around $300. They adjust the suits drag to your height/weight as you can see in the dropdown menu right under height/weight input.

Luis Prinetto is one of the worlds best. You should study his body positions ;p You can rotate your hand without moving your arm or shoulder. Your forearm will twist some...but that's all. You can get more surface area palms up, though. Simply because you can get your arm to turn sideways and your triceps adds more surface area. Again, though...minimal difference that you probably wont even notice. Just fly what you're comfortable with.

Clicked the "url" button, then pasted the url, then clicked the "url" button again. [ u r l ] [ / u r l ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyTB-gQVvMI

I think the less glide has something to do with the inflation issues at higher AoA. You have to fly it at a flat angle which doesn't promote good forward movement.

As for the PTS, I like the design, but it could use some changes. The vents for one...they are easily collapsible. Too easy. When testing on the ground I had to open the vents with my fingers cause my airgun was blowing them shut and not letting air in. And the angle they are on don't promote good inflation from air coming from the front of you(your head) The Tube3 has much better inlet designs in my opinion. The way it curves around allows air to flow from the bottom(the belly) as well as the front(the head). I'd like to see some reinforced inlets like on the new Squirrel suits to promote faster inflation and no chance of blown shut vent. Another thing is the zipper down at the bottom really cuts into your ankle. I guess it was designed to go around hike boots that would extent above your ankles. Some sort of protection/padding would be nice for us sneaker guys...High socks it is! The Cruise: The backfly inlets I don't really care for as it's just an extra vent for air to leak and ruin pressurization. Though, air-lock inlets do help a lot. Wonder if we'll see people doing backfly proximity soon with these! lol The jacket seems to inflate largely so I'm going to assume it has a natural flat-glide unlike the steep Tube3 with the giant pants and little jacket. As for glide ratios, If you look at the data from the tracking speed record, the dude hit like a 2.6 glide when he flared out. And a quote from Karr, "At least i felt it safe, flying 1.75 when my constant result was 1.35" So there, 1.35 avg is a realistic glide ratio achieved with a PTS. My goal is for a 2 minute flight. As of now I can get about 84 seconds in my freefly suit from 13,500 with an avg fall rate of about 79-83mph.

Now THAT is a sexy suit! Don't need booties when you got pants that baggy! lol

If you guys read the rest of the poster, it says, "UNLESS... 1. You have 200 skydives minimum for flying a wingsuit or 75 minimum for flying a tracking suit. 2. You have completed a Wingsuits First Flight Course from a qualified Coach, and have logged signature of completion. 3. You recieved a wingsuit or tracking suit flight briefing. 4. You understand you MUST LAND ON THE AIRPORT. No Exceptions" It's not banned. They're just using some USPA rules and regulations like most other dropzones.

If you know how to use your wings you can get out of linetwists fairly easy. Just gotta use the relative "wind" against your wings to spin you out of them. There is a how-to video floating around somewhere...can't seem to find it atm.

These suits are pretty universal when it comes to sizing. It's a pretty basic Small, Medium, and Large setup. Pheonix-Fly TS's were designed with B.A.S.E. in mind(Hence why their TS's have a hidden hoodie inside the collar.) A lot of these jumpers wear different shoes (hiking boots for BASE, sneakers for Skydiving) which are different sizes and the shoelace clip design is just a more flexible setup. Also, a lot B.A.S.E. jumpers like running starts. Running in booties isn't very ideal when your life is on the line. Though, the point of Tracking is flying your body. If trackers wanted to cheat they'd wear those parachutes without strings you see these people flying around with ;p